


you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve

by Ink_Knight



Category: The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, it's a Bones AU folks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:15:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25987273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Knight/pseuds/Ink_Knight
Summary: Harrowhark Nonagesimus is a prodigy in the world of Forensic Anthropology, her publications focused especially on the rituals surrounding death and grieving around the world.  But when the FBI needs help solving a cold case, the last thing she expected was for a ghost from her past to be leading the team.Gideon Nav got out of Drearburh and never looked back when she joined the Army, where she proved herself with distinction over the next six years before being recruited to the FBI when her last tour was up.  She's happy with her life, and with ignoring everything that came before boot camp.  Until she has to face it again in the dark eyes of Doctor Nonagesimus.It's a Bones AU y'all, and I have no idea where I'm going with it.  But I hope you all enjoy the ride.
Relationships: Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Comments: 14
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

“Griddle…” The old nickname was hissed between gritted teeth, Harrow flinching at the sound of bullets hitting the 30 year old Ford they were sheltering behind.

“Yes, oh wondrous mistress of the dead?” The red-haired agent asked brightly, crouched beside her with those annoyingly shiny sunglasses somehow still perched perfectly on her stupid face.

“Shut up and shoot the guy who’s trying to kill us.” Harrow snapped, watching the redhead grin in response. The smile was a wild thing, with a vicious edge to it as white teeth flashed against brown skin.

“Whatever my lady commands.” Gideon replied even as she surged upwards from her crouch to fire back over the car’s hood during a break in their opponent’s assault. The afternoon sun nearly blinding Harrow as it glinted off Gideon’s ridiculous novelty belt buckle, searing the words ‘Say Hello to My Little Friend’ into her eyes.

But this isn’t how the story starts, of course.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Harrowhark Nonagesimus was a genius. Graduating high school at sixteen and pursuing her degrees in Forensic Anthropology, by the time she was 25 she had her doctorate and several job offers. After a few years of field work and cutting her teeth on academic publications she landed at the Smithsonian, more than content to identify and organize their vast collection of skeletons. But her carefully constructed daily schedule had already been interrupted by a summons from her department head, Dr. Abigail Pent. She could hear voices inside, Pent’s and another that she couldn’t quite place immediately even though it sounded familiar. Giving only a perfunctory knock, Harrow opened the door and stepped inside, nodding to Abigail.

“Oh, good. Dr. Nonagesimus we’ve been asked to aid the FBI with a cold case that has recently been reopened due to new evidence. This is Special Agent Nav, she’s in charge of the case.” Harrow heard every word, but she was too busy trying to deal with this reappearance of a ghost from her past as Gideon turned around to smirk at her. She lowered her sunglasses (what kind of moron wears sunglasses indoors anyway?) to give Harrow a conspiratorial wink before standing and offering her hand.

“Good to see you again Nonagesimus, can’t wait to get to work.” Still trying to find something to say Harrow barely managed a stiff nod and to return the offered handshake while Abigail looked on curiously.

“You two know each other then?” She pressed, looking as intrigued as she did when a new manuscript was uncovered. Gideon gave a casual shrug as she dropped Harrow’s hand, even as Harrow felt a thrill of fear race down her spine as she realized how thoroughly the other woman could ruin her then and there. But for some reason she didn’t.

“Grew up in the same town, went to the same schools until she graduated early.” Was all she offered, apparently keeping the shadows of their past between them for the time being. The rest of the conversation was a blur to Harrow, still reeling from this abrupt change in her life, until Abigail dismissed them and Gideon held the door for her almost chivalrously. But once the door closed the agent’s attitude changed, putting more space between herself and Harrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

“So, I guess all those treatments and tests finally paid off.” This was said with less rancor than Harrow would have expected but there was still that thread of anger under it all.

“Yes.” Harrow’s response was short and clipped, trying to keep the past as buried as she could. Besides, she could barely stomach thinking about the children her parents had put through what basically amounted to medical torment to cure Harrow’s childhood illnesses. She definitely wasn’t going to talk about it if she could help it.

“Well, uh, good then. Glad you got better.” Gideon seemed thrown off by the curt reply, shifting her feet for a moment before clearing her throat and moving on. “I just came by to check in, make sure all the paperwork was sorted. Dr. Pent should have your NDA ready, and we’ll be able to bring the bones and case details to your lab tomorrow.”

“That’s fine.” Again, Harrow kept her answer short while dying inside for this whole interaction to just be over with. Then she could prepare for whatever hell tomorrow would bring, as she couldn’t imagine working beside Gideon Nav for the first time since High School Chemistry to be anything else. There was another awkward pause, longer than the last, and then Gideon nodded sharply. “Alright then, guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was something in her voice that Harrow couldn’t place, but she didn’t wait long enough to figure it out. “Until then Agent Nav.” It was a clear dismissal, and Gideon took it as such. Giving her only one more brief, searching look before turning and walking away. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, but this just felt like the right place to end it.

For the first time since it had fallen into place, Harrow broke her usual morning routine. Skipping tea with Dulcinea in order to ensure her lab was properly prepared for the upcoming federal invasion. And that was after spending most of the previous night going over the casefiles they’d been sent. Even with all that preparation she still felt on edge as she heard the doors open to admit a small crowd of FBI crime scene techs carefully carting several boxes that could only contain the bones in question. With only a raised eyebrow from her Isaac, her intern, hurried forward to direct them on where to put things while Agent Nav and another, younger agent approached Harrow.

“Doctor, this is Junior Agent Chatur. She’s been recently assigned to my team and will be working closely with us.” Harrow nodded politely, taking in how the girl was trying to look professional while simultaneously hanging off of Gideon’s every word. But Harrow let that observation pass like she always had, the younger kids at the home had reacted to Gideon in much the same way. Instead she moved on to more important matters.

“I read the casefiles last night but I’ll still need some time with the bones before I’ll have any conclusions for you.” She told Gideon brusquely while the elder agent nodded along. There was a pause in which Harrow realized chasing Gideon off wouldn’t be that easy. But then, since when was it ever? Stifling a sigh she continued. 

“The original case seems pretty straight forward, though I can see how the unexpected discovery of so many bodies can throw off your original theories.” Her voice was measured, laying out the details as she understood them. Gideon nodded again, hands tucked into her pockets while Agent Chatur kept looking back and forth between them like they were sharing the secrets of the universe of something.

“Well yeah, the last thing you expect to find on the body of a missing whistleblower is directions to a mass grave site.” Gideon drawled with her usual lack of reverence for anything that wasn’t a beautiful woman or exhausting workout. With a roll of her eyes Harrow glanced over to where Isaac was supervising the unpacking of the bones, only to pause as she noticed a similarity in several of the pieces. She strode over without another word, taking no notice of the two agents trailing after her. Snapping on a pair of gloves as she approached she picked up one of the skills for closer study with a frown. Looking back up to squint at the other bones that had been unpacked already.

“Many of these belong to children.” Harrow’s mind span with the new information, and other observations she'd rather ignore until she had proof to back up the suspicions they caused. Or better yet, disprove them. She was shaken from her thoughts by Gideon’s presence at her shoulder.

“Yeah, we kinda left that out of the initial report because the remains were too jumbled to even guess how many people were in the grave. Much less how many were specifically children.” She explained, sounding at least a bit regretful for having this revelation sprung on Harrow in such a way. Harrow nodded, needing another moment to collect her thoughts.

“What was your original victim trying to report on again?” She finally asked, trying to recall if that information had been in the reports. There was a long pause before Gideon answered her.

“Under the table medical trials by a major pharmaceutical company. But he disappeared before he could give us any solid information.” She spoke carefully, as if worried the words would break something while Harrow was thrown back in time to a childhood of private doctors and secret tests. A glance at Gideon told her they were thinking of the same things but neither seemed willing to say it out loud.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a week since the FBI essentially took over Harrow’s lab. During that week she’d set Isaac to cataloguing the bones and reconstructing the skeletons while she ran several discrete tests alongside the usual ones. They confirmed her suspicions, even if for once in her life she wished she’d been wrong. She double checked the results, just to be sure, and then called Gideon. Her office allowed her a view down into the main lab below so she saw when Gideon parted with her young shadow and turned to head upstairs. Harrow watched Isaac and Agent Chatur talk, her intern’s wide gestures suggesting he was explaining something to her. But she’d kept him out of her private investigations so she wasn’t worried about him giving anything away.

When Gideon reached the office Harrow had retreated back to her desk to frown at the folder of test results resting there. Gideon seemed to read her mood as she entered, closing the door behind her and even taking off the aviators she’d been wearing the last couple of times Harrow had seen her. But of course, any thoughts of her taking this as seriously as it needed to be were dashed the moment she opened her mouth.

“As mysterious as ever, huh gloom mistress?” She quipped as she sprawled in the chair across the desk from her.

“Griddle…” The childhood nickname escaped through grinding teeth at the exasperating familiarity of the moment. That only made Gideon grin triumphantly, golden eyes sparkling in a way that should have been impossible in the lowered lights of Harrow’s office. But then, Gideon always had seemed to embody the impossible and unexpected. As if to prove it the redhead sobered and leaned forward, elbows on her knees, with an expression Harrow couldn’t quite decipher.

“Do lights still bother you?” She asked, head cocked to one side like an overgrown puppy.

“No, not like before. But I didn’t ask you here to discuss my condition.” Harrow’s reply was clipped and impatient, and she ended the statement by pushing the file in front of her across the desk. Gideon didn’t even glance at it at first, staring at Harrow with an unnerving intensity before finally looking away and picking it up. The room fell silent for several long moments as Gideon read, brows furrowed in concentration. It was only broken when she sat back with a sigh and returned her gaze to Harrow’s.

“So you think it’s connected then.” It wasn’t a question, Gideon stating a fact into the empty air between them with total assurance.

“It would be a very large coincidence otherwise.” Gideon nodded to acknowledge her point but seemed to be waiting for more. Harrow scowled at her, starting to see what might make Gideon a good agent. Somewhere along the way she’d apparently learned the benefits of patience. Harrow let out an annoyed breath and then plowed forward to present her case.

“Every single bone shows signs of the same disease, all belong to children or adolescents as far as we can tell, and the burial site is less than six hours from Drearburh.” Each point was delivered with the same precision and certainty that she’d had while presenting her doctoral thesis, but with even more vindication behind the words.

“I agree, it’s a bit too much to be a coincidence. But none of that is conclusive proof. In fact, it only looks like proof to us because we lived it.” Harrow’s lip curled, barely controlling the urge to make a snide remark about Gideon’s newfound maturity in the face of having her evidence refuted like that.

“Then how do we get proof?” She asked acidly. Gideon gave her another of those looks she couldn’t read before replying.

“Are you sure Harrowhark? This will ruin your family’s reputation, and probably empty your trust fund.” It almost sounded like she cared, which couldn’t be right. Gideon Nav should feel nothing but contempt for her, considering the way she was treated as a child and teen.

“I built my own reputation, and I haven’t touched that money since I finished school. I have the money to spare.” Her response was dismissive, but when she continued it was with a furrowed brow.

“I always knew that what my parents did was wrong, but I thought that those who didn’t survive were at least treated with dignity. That the children with families were returned to them, the others given a proper burial. But if I’m right, if this is them...I have to make it right.” Gideon was staring at her again, prompting Harrow to realize her heart rate and breathing were elevated and her cheeks were flushed with the passion of her statement. If she didn’t know better she’d have called the look in Gideon’s eyes concern. But that couldn’t be and she dismissed the idea, pushing on before the agent could say anything to stall her momentum.

“And I brought it to you because you’re the only other person alive who knows enough to take me seriously. But if you aren’t going to help then I’ll do it on my own.”

“Wait, back up. Other kids aged out before me, where are they? And the cure they used for you, it had to work on other kids right?” There was a small amount of satisfaction to be gotten from the distress and disbelief she could hear in Gideon’s voice, in hearing her start to realize what Harrow had.

“There’s no trace of the handful that survived to age out before you. They left the estate and then seemed to just disappear. My theory is that some of the older remains belong to them. And the official story is that the cure had a very low success rate, but with all of this I’m not convinced that wasn’t a lie. That perhaps my parents never had any intention of curing any more than they had to in order to make things look good. But I suppose the guilt caught up to them in the end, considering.” Harrow waved a hand slightly, as if brushing aside the inconvenience of her parents’ final choices while Gideon’s posture and expression softened.

“Yeah, I heard about that. I’m sorry Harrow.” Harrow felt like she’d been slapped, eyes going wide in shock before she reset her expression into her usual frown.

“Why? They were horrible to you.” I was horrible to you.

“They were still your parents. I might not have much experience with the whole family thing, but I don’t think any kid should have to deal with that.” The gentleness in Gideon’s voice, the heavy weight of her gaze, threatened to crack Harrow’s ribs open and expose the tender beating heart she kept buried so deeply within. So she reacted in the only way she knew how, to push away the only person in her life today to have seen her vulnerable and afraid.

“No Griddle, you wouldn’t know. Your parents left you on a stranger’s doorstep like so much garbage.” The viciousness of her words and tone helped to mask the sting she felt as Gideon’s expression shuttered. She sat back, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes suddenly hard before they were covered once more by her sunglasses. That was better, best to keep Gideon at arm’s length. She needed her help to bring justice for the children her parents hurt, but that didn’t mean she deserved her care or comfort.

“Right. Thank you for the information Dr. Nonagesimus, I’ll look into it.” Gideon finally replied after a long pause of staring at Harrow from behind darkened lenses. She stood and left Harrow’s office, posture stiff and unyielding. Rising and walking to the window once the door closed behind her, Harrow watched Gideon interrupt Isaac and Agent Chatur with some terse words, the two of them exchanging puzzled glances as Gideon led her away. And then Harrow returned to her work, burying her unease at how that talk ended under data and bones. Those things made sense, they carried an honesty she never found in the rest of the world.


End file.
